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<div class="section" title="Introduction and motivation">
<div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title">
<a name="range.reference.adaptors.introduction"></a><a class="link" href="introduction.html" title="Introduction and motivation"> Introduction
        and motivation</a>
</h4></div></div></div>
<p>
          A <span class="bold"><strong>Range Adaptor</strong></span> is a class that wraps
          an existing Range to provide a new Range with different behaviour. Since
          the behaviour of Ranges is determined by their associated iterators, a
          Range Adaptor simply wraps the underlying iterators with new special iterators.
          In this example
        </p>
<p>

</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="preprocessor">#include</span> <span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">/</span><span class="identifier">range</span><span class="special">/</span><span class="identifier">adaptors</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">hpp</span><span class="special">&gt;</span>
<span class="preprocessor">#include</span> <span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">/</span><span class="identifier">range</span><span class="special">/</span><span class="identifier">algorithm</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">hpp</span><span class="special">&gt;</span>
<span class="preprocessor">#include</span> <span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="identifier">iostream</span><span class="special">&gt;</span>
<span class="preprocessor">#include</span> <span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="identifier">vector</span><span class="special">&gt;</span>

<span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">vector</span><span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="keyword">int</span><span class="special">&gt;</span> <span class="identifier">vec</span><span class="special">;</span>
<span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">copy</span><span class="special">(</span> <span class="identifier">vec</span> <span class="special">|</span> <span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">adaptors</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">reversed</span><span class="special">,</span>
             <span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">ostream_iterator</span><span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="keyword">int</span><span class="special">&gt;(</span><span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">cout</span><span class="special">)</span> <span class="special">);</span>
</pre>
<p>
        </p>
<p>
          the iterators from <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">vec</span></code>
          are wrapped <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">reverse_iterator</span></code>s.
          The type of the underlying Range Adapter is not documented because you
          do not need to know it. All that is relevant is that the expression
        </p>
<p>

</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="identifier">vec</span> <span class="special">|</span> <span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">adaptors</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">reversed</span>
</pre>
<p>
        </p>
<p>
          returns a Range Adaptor where the iterator type is now the iterator type
          of the range <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">vec</span></code> wrapped
          in <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">reverse_iterator</span></code>. The
          expression <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">adaptors</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">reversed</span></code> is called an <span class="bold"><strong>Adaptor
          Generator</strong></span>.
        </p>
<p>
          There are two ways of constructing a range adaptor. The first is by using
          <code class="computeroutput"><span class="keyword">operator</span><span class="special">|()</span></code>.
          This is my preferred technique, however while discussing range adaptors
          with others it became clear that some users of the library strongly prefer
          a more familiar function syntax, so equivalent functions of the present
          tense form have been added as an alternative syntax. The equivalent to
          <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">rng</span> <span class="special">|</span>
          <span class="identifier">reversed</span></code> is <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">adaptors</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">reverse</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">rng</span><span class="special">)</span></code> for example.
        </p>
<p>
          Why do I prefer the <code class="computeroutput"><span class="keyword">operator</span><span class="special">|</span></code> syntax? The answer is readability:
        </p>
<p>

</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">vector</span><span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="keyword">int</span><span class="special">&gt;</span> <span class="identifier">vec</span><span class="special">;</span>
<span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">copy</span><span class="special">(</span> <span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">adaptors</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">reverse</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">vec</span><span class="special">),</span>
             <span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">ostream_iterator</span><span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="keyword">int</span><span class="special">&gt;(</span><span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">cout</span><span class="special">)</span> <span class="special">);</span>
</pre>
<p>
        </p>
<p>
          This might not look so bad, but when we apply several adaptors, it becomes
          much worse. Just compare
        </p>
<p>

</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">vector</span><span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="keyword">int</span><span class="special">&gt;</span> <span class="identifier">vec</span><span class="special">;</span>
<span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">copy</span><span class="special">(</span> <span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">adaptors</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">unique</span><span class="special">(</span> <span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">adaptors</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">reverse</span><span class="special">(</span> <span class="identifier">vec</span> <span class="special">)</span> <span class="special">),</span>
             <span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">ostream_iterator</span><span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="keyword">int</span><span class="special">&gt;(</span><span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">cout</span><span class="special">)</span> <span class="special">);</span>
</pre>
<p>
        </p>
<p>
          to
        </p>
<p>

</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">vector</span><span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="keyword">int</span><span class="special">&gt;</span> <span class="identifier">vec</span><span class="special">;</span>
<span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">copy</span><span class="special">(</span> <span class="identifier">vec</span> <span class="special">|</span> <span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">adaptors</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">reversed</span>
                 <span class="special">|</span> <span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">adaptors</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">uniqued</span><span class="special">,</span>
             <span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">ostream_iterator</span><span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="keyword">int</span><span class="special">&gt;(</span><span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">cout</span><span class="special">)</span> <span class="special">);</span>
</pre>
<p>
        </p>
<p>
          Furthermore, some of the adaptor generators take arguments themselves and
          these arguments are expressed with function call notation too. In those
          situations, you will really appreciate the succinctness of <code class="computeroutput"><span class="keyword">operator</span><span class="special">|()</span></code>.
        </p>
<a name="range.reference.adaptors.introduction.composition_of_adaptors"></a><h6>
<a name="id567043"></a>
          <a class="link" href="introduction.html#range.reference.adaptors.introduction.composition_of_adaptors">Composition
          of Adaptors</a>
        </h6>
<p>
          Range Adaptors are a powerful complement to Range algorithms. The reason
          is that adaptors are <span class="emphasis"><em><span class="bold"><strong>orthogonal</strong></span></em></span>
          to algorithms. For example, consider these Range algorithms:
        </p>
<div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" type="disc">
<li class="listitem"><code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">copy</span><span class="special">(</span> <span class="identifier">rng</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">out</span> <span class="special">)</span></code></li>
<li class="listitem"><code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">count</span><span class="special">(</span> <span class="identifier">rng</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">pred</span> <span class="special">)</span></code></li>
</ul></div>
<p>
          What should we do if we only want to copy an element <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">a</span></code>
          if it satisfies some predicate, say <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">pred</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">a</span><span class="special">)</span></code>?
          And what if we only want to count the elements that satisfy the same predicate?
          The naive answer would be to use these algorithms:
        </p>
<div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" type="disc">
<li class="listitem"><code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">copy_if</span><span class="special">(</span>
            <span class="identifier">rng</span><span class="special">,</span>
            <span class="identifier">pred</span><span class="special">,</span>
            <span class="identifier">out</span> <span class="special">)</span></code></li>
<li class="listitem"><code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">count_if</span><span class="special">(</span>
            <span class="identifier">rng</span><span class="special">,</span>
            <span class="identifier">pred</span> <span class="special">)</span></code></li>
</ul></div>
<p>
          These algorithms are only defined to maintain a one to one relationship
          with the standard library algorithms. This approach of adding algorithm
          suffers a combinatorial explosion. Inevitably many algorithms are missing
          <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">_if</span></code> variants and there
          is redundant development overhead for each new algorithm. The Adaptor Generator
          is the design solution to this problem.
        </p>
<a name="range.reference.adaptors.introduction.range_adaptor_alternative_to_copy_if_algorithm"></a><h6>
<a name="id567347"></a>
          <a class="link" href="introduction.html#range.reference.adaptors.introduction.range_adaptor_alternative_to_copy_if_algorithm">Range
          Adaptor alternative to copy_if algorithm</a>
        </h6>
<p>

</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">copy_if</span><span class="special">(</span> <span class="identifier">rng</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">pred</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">out</span> <span class="special">);</span>
</pre>
<p>
          can be expressed as
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">copy</span><span class="special">(</span> <span class="identifier">rng</span> <span class="special">|</span> <span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">adaptors</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">filtered</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">pred</span><span class="special">),</span> <span class="identifier">out</span> <span class="special">);</span>
</pre>
<p>
        </p>
<a name="range.reference.adaptors.introduction.range_adaptor_alternative_to_count_if_algorithm"></a><h6>
<a name="id567512"></a>
          <a class="link" href="introduction.html#range.reference.adaptors.introduction.range_adaptor_alternative_to_count_if_algorithm">Range
          Adaptor alternative to count_if algorithm</a>
        </h6>
<p>

</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">count_if</span><span class="special">(</span> <span class="identifier">rng</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">pred</span> <span class="special">);</span>
</pre>
<p>
          can be expressed as
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">count</span><span class="special">(</span> <span class="identifier">rng</span> <span class="special">|</span> <span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">adaptors</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">filtered</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">pred</span><span class="special">),</span> <span class="identifier">out</span> <span class="special">);</span>
</pre>
<p>
        </p>
<p>
          What this means is that <span class="emphasis"><em><span class="bold"><strong>no</strong></span></em></span>
          algorithm with the <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">_if</span></code>
          suffix is needed. Furthermore, it turns out that algorithms with the <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">_copy</span></code> suffix are not needed either. Consider
          the somewhat misdesigned <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">replace_copy_if</span><span class="special">()</span></code> which may be used as
        </p>
<p>

</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">vector</span><span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="keyword">int</span><span class="special">&gt;</span> <span class="identifier">vec</span><span class="special">;</span>
<span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">replace_copy_if</span><span class="special">(</span> <span class="identifier">rng</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">back_inserter</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">vec</span><span class="special">),</span> <span class="identifier">pred</span> <span class="special">);</span>
</pre>
<p>
        </p>
<p>
          With adaptors and algorithms we can express this as
        </p>
<p>

</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">vector</span><span class="special">&lt;</span><span class="keyword">int</span><span class="special">&gt;</span> <span class="identifier">vec</span><span class="special">;</span>
<span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">push_back</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">vec</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">rng</span> <span class="special">|</span> <span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">adaptors</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">replaced_if</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">pred</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">new_value</span><span class="special">));</span>
</pre>
<p>
        </p>
<p>
          The latter code has several benefits:
        </p>
<p>
          1. it is more <span class="emphasis"><em><span class="bold"><strong>efficient</strong></span></em></span>
          because we avoid extra allocations as might happen with <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">back_inserter</span></code>
        </p>
<p>
          2. it is <span class="emphasis"><em><span class="bold"><strong>flexible</strong></span></em></span>
          as we can subsequently apply even more adaptors, for example:
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">push_back</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">vec</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">rng</span> <span class="special">|</span> <span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">adaptors</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">replaced_if</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="identifier">pred</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">new_value</span><span class="special">)</span>
                          <span class="special">|</span> <span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">adaptors</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">reversed</span><span class="special">);</span>
</pre>
<p>
        </p>
<p>
          3. it is <span class="emphasis"><em><span class="bold"><strong>safer</strong></span></em></span> because
          there is no use of an unbounded output iterator.
        </p>
<p>
          In this manner, the <span class="emphasis"><em><span class="bold"><strong>composition</strong></span></em></span>
          of Range Adaptors has the following consequences:
        </p>
<p>
          1. we no longer need <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">_if</span></code>,
          <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">_copy</span></code>, <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">_copy_if</span></code>
          and <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">_n</span></code> variants of algorithms.
        </p>
<p>
          2. we can generate a multitude of new algorithms on the fly, for example,
          above we generated <code class="computeroutput"><span class="identifier">reverse_replace_copy_if</span><span class="special">()</span></code>
        </p>
<p>
          In other words:
        </p>
<p>
          <span class="bold"><strong>Range Adaptors are to algorithms what algorithms
          are to containers</strong></span>
        </p>
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        file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at <a href="http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt" target="_top">http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt</a>)
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